Officially called As-Sarrafiya Bridge, but popularly known as Jisr Al-Qittar (The Train Bridge). For those who lived nearby, it was Al-Alwaziya and Al-Iwadhiya Bridge, and for Baghdadis it was known as Al-Jisr Al-Hadeedi (The Iron Bridge), however, the name of As-Sarafiyya remained the most commonly used.

The Bridge was the first iron bridge in Baghdad. The other bridges existing in Baghdad at the time were Jisr Al-Ateeq [the Old Bridge], Jisr Alma'moon, Jisr Al-Shuhadaa' [the Martyrs] and Jisr Al-Salhiya [the area west of the bridge]. The latter was officially known as King Faisal Bridge during the monarchy but renamed as Al-Ahrar [the Freemen] Bridge after the establishment of the Republic in 1958 eventhough the common name used by the people was Maud Bridge (after General Maud who occupied Baghdad at WW1). Another bridge was Jisr Al-A'imma that linked Al-Adhamiya and Al-Kadhum. It was at the time a wooden bridge, which frightened whoever saw it.
The purpose of As-Sarrafiya Bridge was to establish a modern train bridge linking the two railway stations on either sides of River Tigris in Baghdad. The East of Baghdad Railway Station, which was near the Faculty of Commerce, and The Commerce Secondary School. The West of Baghdad Railway Station was close to the current El-Alaawi Garage, which was later replaced by the newly constructed International Railway Station in the early 1960s.

The design and planning of the As-Sarrafiya Bridge was granted to a British firm Cooper-Blazer*, which completed the plans in two years.

A Bridge in Sydney
Al-Sarrafiya Bridge had been planned for Sydney, Australia prior to its purchase by the Ministry of Works and Transport who bought the steel framework and arranged for the bridge to be modified and adapted for Baghdad.
Work to construct the bridge commenced at the end of 1946 by the British Construction Company Holo (the exact English spelling not certain).

The Longest Bridge in the World for its time
The length of bridge was 2166 meters and the river span was 450 meters, thus making it the longest bridge in the world at the time. The construction of the bridge was interrupted by the Al-Wathba or AL-Intifadha (The Leap), the popular uprising of Iraqis against the Portsmouth Treaty between Britain and Iraq. It was thought at the time that the Bridge was intended to serve British interests. Rioters attacked the British engineers and the Indian labourers with stones and iron pieces and this led to the suspension of the construction work.

First driven by Abd Al-Mafraji and supervised by Yas Ali Al-Naser
Work on the Bridge was recommenced at the time of Sayyed (Sir in a religious context) Mohamed Al-Sadr Cabinet and was completed in 1952. It was officially opened with great ceremony that was attended by the Prime Minster at the time Mr Jameel (Jamil) Al-Madfa'ie. It was the first time Baghdadis saw a train crossing an iron bridge. At the ceremony, the train was driven by the most senior train driver, Mr Abd Abbas Al-Mafraji and supervised by the Iraqi Artist Yas Ali Alnaser, who was a specialist technician in modern trains.

The decimated Bridge
They have now decimated Al-Sarrafiya Bridge and in so doing they have destroyed one of Baghdad's modern monuments. However, there is no doubt that the Bridge will come back again.
(see photos)
Al-Medaa Al-Iraqia
Arabic script is courtesy of Al-Iraq Voice (صوت العراق ( 18-04-2007
Translated by Dr Ismail Jalili
الترجمة للانكليزية الدكتور اسماعيل الجليلي المملكة المتحده ‘
23 نيسان 2007

* The exact english name is unavailable. I acknowledge the contribution of Dr Ghanim Al-Sheikh in providing the full name.